However, her 3F-3L is not looking good. In her first combination the flip is not shown well so I don't know about this jump but the 3L is underrotated. In the second combination the 3F would probably be underrotated and the loop definitely downgraded.

Really? I thought it was as if she overrotated her loop in the first attempt shown and hence couldn't control the landing. The height she got on that loop was pretty impressive. As for the second attempt, hard to know if it would be ratified or not. Just have to see, but it would be pretty amazing if it were.

Reports are that Mao was practicing 3F-3T as well. I hope a clip will be shown. It would be amazing if Mao did that combo as well, though if she can succeed in getting her 3F-3L ratified reasonably well, there wouldn't be any place to do that combo.

I'm not expecting a flawless performance at 4CC. But even if she under-rotates some of her jumps, if she can do enough to indicate that she has a good chance of successfully completing a 8 triple program next season, I will jump for joy.

I'd be surprised if she put in the 3F-3L because it didn't look that great in the practice video. I suppose it could make sense to try in the LP if it means that she can do 8 triples instead of 7, but it seems a bit too ambitious to put in two very difficult elements when she has struggled with watered-down content recently.

That 3A actually looks pretty nice! Yes, it's under-rotated but it would still get abou 6.0, and presumably negative GOE since it was under-rotated. But still that would score better than a 2A with positive GOE. I wonder if she'll attempt it in the short.

Really? I thought it was as if she overrotated her loop in the first attempt shown and hence couldn't control the landing. The height she got on that loop was pretty impressive. As for the second attempt, hard to know if it would be ratified or not. Just have to see, but it would be pretty amazing if it were.

Reports are that Mao was practicing 3F-3T as well. I hope a clip will be shown. It would be amazing if Mao did that combo as well, though if she can succeed in getting her 3F-3L ratified reasonably well, there wouldn't be any place to do that combo.

I'm not expecting a flawless performance at 4CC. But even if she under-rotates some of her jumps, if she can do enough to indicate that she has a good chance of successfully completing a 8 triple program next season, I will jump for joy.

Unfortunately, the 3L was definitely not overrotated. If you pause the video at the right moment you can see that her blade touches the ice when short of rotation. But yes, the height was nice . There's no chance Mao would go for two triple-triples and a 3A, no way. But one 3-3 is not out of question, as you provided a link where Mao stated that she will attempt a 3-3. But what's the point in practising a 3F-3L? I'm really wondering because as I've written previously, her solo jump in SP is a 3L so she cannot do a 3F-3L while she could do a 3F-3T. And in the long program she already has two triple loops.
If Mao was going to put a 3A and a 3-3 I think (based on her current jump layout and practise videos) her jump layout would be
3L
3A
3F-3T
3Lz
3S
3L-2L-2L
3F

And yes, I would also jump for joy if she could even indicate there's a chance we'll see a first 8-triple jump program from a lady at the Olympics.

She certainly did! According to protocols, no URs edge calls for any of her jumps including the 3A!
I don't care how her FP will turn out at this point. Tonight's success was her first step towards getting back what she had lost in the past.
I think Mao proved something very meaningful tonight. It was simply moving.

She certainly did! According to protocols, no URs edge calls for any of her jumps including the 3A!
I don't care how her FP will turn out at this point. Tonight's success was her first step towards getting back what she had lost in the past.
I think Mao proved something very meaningful tonight. It was simply moving.

ITA. She proved today she is a champion. Even with a 2A she probably would have been in the lead. But I don't think it's about the medals at this point for her. She has all the titles, minus the Olympic one and today she took a leap forward do Sochi. She landed the 3A after 2 years! This is amazing!

She certainly did! According to protocols, no URs edge calls for any of her jumps including the 3A!
I don't care how her FP will turn out at this point. Tonight's success was her first step towards getting back what she had lost in the past.
I think Mao proved something very meaningful tonight. It was simply moving.

Sure does! After seeing Mao succeed her 3A today, I realised that the phrase 'winning isn't everything' doesn't just mean even if you lose it's okay cause you tried your best sort of thing...Probabaly for a skater like Mao, 'winning isn't everything' means 'how you win is what really counts'. I'm sure Mao wants to win 4CC as much as any other skater. However to her, all the victories she managed during this season never made her totally satisfied nor happy. She wanted to win with a 3A. She said in an interview before the competition started that her 3A success rate was around 60%, plus in a run-through it was only 40~50%. Still, she said she would go for it. That's the kind of spirit I love in an athlete. Overcoming fear and taking the risk. She may not succeed another 3A nor a 3-3 in her FP, but this was her first step to become the skater she wants to be once again.

But it's not just Mao...all top skaters never give up on improving themselves or trying to keep difficult elements which they've achieved even as they age. Yuna's managed to keep her 3lz-3t even after her absence, Pattie has been trying hard to stabilize his 4-3 again...some people always seem to have trouble believing me when I say this, but I admire them as much as Mao who has been my long time fave skater. I may not be a fan of all skaters, but I do respect and appreciate them.

As for the 70% rotation rule matter, I am all for it! This sport has evolved throughout the decades. Long ago ladies only jumped doubles. Lots of men had trouble just jumping a 3lz. Then came the Russian guys who started jumping quads and hightened the level of the sport. Weren't you all excited to see Yag and Plushy compete? But the DG rates were so harsh, many men avoided quads for quite some time. Joubert, Takahashi, Oda and Kozuka kept on attempting knowing the risks, and when they failed to rotate even just a little bit, it cost them dearly. But after the 70% rule, Pattie started jumping fantastic quads which led the other guys to follow the same path, and now mens singles are becoming exciting once again. Many ladies jumping 3t-3t wouldn't have happened either if it weren't for the 70% rule I think, and I'm happy to see Gracie, Adelina, and Liza attempting much harder 3-3s. If it would encourage the skaters to try to achieve and attempt more difficult jumps, I don't see anything bad in this rule. This is a rule for all skaters, and even Verner who says he doesn't like it will be rewarded fairly by it at times. I'm not a skater so I can only imagine, but it must take alot of guts to go for a quad or a 3-3. I don't see any reason why skaters should not be rewarded at all just because of a slight UR. They still do have DG anyway, too. I find it very strange that some of you think this rule is not fair. It's a rule and that means it applies to all skaters, I see nothing unfair in that at all.

Sport is about challenge and attempting something which is hard to succeed. All the skaters practice hard to become able to do what they couldn't at first. A rule which encourages them to go on aiming for something higher cannot possibly be a bad nor unfair rule.

Sure does! After seeing Mao succeed her 3A today, I realised that the phrase 'winning isn't everything' doesn't just mean even if you lose it's okay cause you tried your best sort of thing...Probabaly for a skater like Mao, 'winning isn't everything' means 'how you win is what really counts'. I'm sure Mao wants to win 4CC as much as any other skater. However to her, all the victories she managed during this season never made her totally satisfied nor happy. She wanted to win with a 3A. She said in an interview before the competition started that her 3A success rate was around 60%, plus in a run-through it was only 40~50%. Still, she said she would go for it. That's the kind of spirit I love in an athlete. Overcoming fear and taking the risk. She may not succeed another 3A nor a 3-3 in her FP, but this was her first step to become the skater she wants to be once again.

In olympics, she landed 3A. but did not seem happy at all. even though she recieved Silver medal.
when she is Number 2 or 3, she didn't seems satisfied and smiling faces.
'winning isn't everything?' she is real fighter for gold medal

Originally Posted by Laughing Man

As for the 70% rotation rule matter, I am all for it! This sport has evolved throughout the decades. Long ago ladies only jumped doubles. Lots of men had trouble just jumping a 3lz. Then came the Russian guys who started jumping quads and hightened the level of the sport. Weren't you all excited to see Yag and Plushy compete? But the DG rates were so harsh, many men avoided quads for quite some time. Joubert, Takahashi, Oda and Kozuka kept on attempting knowing the risks, and when they failed to rotate even just a little bit, it cost them dearly. But after the 70% rule, Pattie started jumping fantastic quads which led the other guys to follow the same path, and now mens singles are becoming exciting once again. Many ladies jumping 3t-3t wouldn't have happened either if it weren't for the 70% rule I think, and I'm happy to see Gracie, Adelina, and Liza attempting much harder 3-3s. If it would encourage the skaters to try to achieve and attempt more difficult jumps, I don't see anything bad in this rule. This is a rule for all skaters, and even Verner who says he doesn't like it will be rewarded fairly by it at times. I'm not a skater so I can only imagine, but it must take alot of guts to go for a quad or a 3-3. I don't see any reason why skaters should not be rewarded at all just because of a slight UR. They still do have DG anyway, too. I find it very strange that some of you think this rule is not fair. It's a rule and that means it applies to all skaters, I see nothing unfair in that at all.

Sport is about challenge and attempting something which is hard to succeed. All the skaters practice hard to become able to do what they couldn't at first. A rule which encourages them to go on aiming for something higher cannot possibly be a bad nor unfair rule.

problem about 70% rule, and skaters trying to high level jump...
I think it's the problem that difference of the values ​​on each skaters.
for example, 2 top ladies, yuna and mao.

mao
she said "Not challenge each year you will not grow.""I always aim higher."
yuna, she said
"What I want to avoid is staying at the same place. As I improve in skills, musical interpretations, and acting, I am able to approach each element of my programs with perfection which makes me satisfied with myself."
"I hope that I and everyone watching my performances will not feel joy or sorry accompanied by the colors of the medals, but share joy and happiness that I'll deliver through the music and my performances"